Stéphane Horel is an investigative journalist at Le Monde, specialising in corporate harm, toxic industries and scientific disinformation.

In her former life, she has written several books, and has directed a dozen documentaries. In 2023, she supervised the European map of PFAS contamination of the "Forever Pollution Project".

Her investigations into corporate lobbying won the Louise Weiss Prize for European Journalism (2017) and the European Press Prize for Investigation ("Monsanto papers", with Stéphane Foucart, 2018). Since her first participation in a cross-border project in 2018, the ICIJ Implant Files, she has become a passionate practitioner of cross-border journalism, developing innovative investigation methodologies. She coordinated the awarded "Forever Pollution Project", which revealed the extent of PFAS contamination in Europe (2023) and the “Forever Lobbying Project” (2025). She received the European Science journalist of the year award in 2024.

Stéphane Horel

Basic information

Name
Stéphane Horel
Title
Investigative journalist
Expertise
Corporate harm from toxic industries
Country
France
City
Paris
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Links

Supported projects

Forever Lobbying Project

  • Environment
  • Industry

BRUSSELS - Over a year, a team of 46 journalists in 16 countries investigated an ongoing massive, orchestrated lobbying and disinformation campaign led by the PFAS industry and their allied organisations to water down a proposal to ban “forever chemicals” in the EU and shift the burden of environmental pollution onto society, threatening the economic equilibrium of European nations.

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The Forever Pollution Project

  • Environment
  • Industry

BRUSSELS - EU - Nearly 23,000 sites all over Europe are contaminated by the “forever chemical” PFAS, an exclusive, months-long investigation from 18 European newsrooms shows. The investigation “The Forever Pollution Project” revealed an additional 21,500 presumptive contamination sites due to current or past industrial activity. This contamination spreads all over Europe.

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Big Tobacco's proxy-lobby in the 21st century

  • Industry

Le Monde and The Investigative Desk delved into the multi-layered world of Big Tobacco’s 21st century astroturfing. They discovered that under the guise of defending individual freedom, fake consumer organisations are promoting e-cigarettes. 

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The Chlorpyrifos Case

  • Environment
  • Healthcare

BRUSSELS - Residues of Chlorpyrifos, a dangerous insecticide, have been found in fruit baskets and samples of human urine across Europe. This large, cross-border investigation unveils its risks for the public. 

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Mentor for

Why Banned Toxic Pesticides from EU markets are a Concern for Cameroon and Kenya

  • Agriculture
  • Environment

KENYA/CAMEROON - A cross-border investigation has established that pesticides that are already banned within European Union markets are still used in Kenya and Cameroon. These chemicals of concern are readily available to small and large-scale farmers who are ignorant of their effects.

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